Martyr
by Holy Song
Summary: In just one moment, a life is taken from the world, and the future is changed forever. One-shot. Heavy emphasis on blood.


As a deafening silence fills the air, the tiny tendrils of red flow like a minuscule river carving its way through the thick ground. The liquid runs outward and surrounds the woman in a bloody insignia of her battles fought. It empowers her feeble image, and her stark, white skin glows against that deep, red lifeblood that encircles her, a crimson halo in honor of her martyr. As the radiant light of young life fades from her eyes, her body grows brighter against the blood, a disgustingly ironic image. Her hair still flutters gently in the wind, and her dimming green eyes search for her three friends, the three whom aided in her quest for a brighter future and a more accepting world.

Her brother rushes to her side, ignoring the blood that now soaks into his pure white clothing. In fact, the boy hardly realizes it's there, his shock and his tears blinding him from everything but the image of his dying sister.

To her other side is an older man, her fiancé. A battle-hardened warrior, none had ever seen him shed a tear. A gruff exterior has kept him steady through their years of hardship. And yet, as he gazes upon his wounded love, he cannot keep the infinite trail of tears from pouring down his face. His face is torn by grief, and it is evident that all hope has vanished from his mind. He crumples to the ground and drags his mourning person to his love, pressing his face to hers, lips meeting in a final goodbye.

"Don't weep," she says, but her voice has lost its melody, replaced by a raspy, choking ghost of what it once was. The words cause her to cough, a wet and gruesome sound that wracks her entire body, and her brother and lover bury their faces into her reddened dress. They have no words that they can manage, and so the woman continues. "Don't weep for me. We have fulfilled our goals."

A loud howl comes from the side, and a protozoan crawls toward the dying lady. His canine exterior shakes with grief, and his master, a young man with no familial connections to the woman, follows the animal to the his friend's vicinity and bows his head in solemn respect to her passing.

The woman coughs again, and her next words are weaker and quieter than her previous statement. "Yuan, my love, we will meet again one day. I will wait for you." Her fiancé's silent sobbing becomes audible with her final words to him, and he presses his face further into her body, as if to absorb her very essence before she is lost. The woman continues after regaining the strength to speak. "Mithos, dear brother, do not lose hope. One day this world will see the end of this violence." She draws a breath; her voice is ever fainter, and all present can tell that she is nearing her end. "We will see a world without discrimination. At least, that is my wish." Her words are lost with a spell of coughs, but even those are weak, and she has lost the will to keep her eyes open. The world would never again see the sparkling jade of her eyes or the permanent joy and hope that nested inside them. A beauty of the world torn asunder. "Stay...strong, everyone. I love you all."

Her final words are met with silence and heavy, jagged breathing as she struggles to remain in the waking world. Her fiancé lifts his hand and, in a last attempt at composure, places it gingerly on her cheek. Stroking it, the man catches the faintest glimmer of a smile, and he is filled with relief that her last memories would be good ones.

After only a few moments, the breathing dies, and even though the day had been peaceful and bright, a permanent darkness settles over their hearts. The darkness traps them, dragging the remaining members of their group into an inescapable spiral of numbness and hate, and all hope is lost.

The world is silent even as it booms its new order, as it tears itself in two, as a false god begins to deceive and lie. The world is silent as terror reigns and fear maintains placidity. The world is silent as millions march to their death in the name of the new world.

The false god rules solemnly, achieving his goals with precision and care, using the people of his worlds as pawns in his scheme to fulfill his sister's dying wish. His advisors, demigods each ruling over one of the two worlds, stand behind him with grim faces and faded eyes.

Three angels, fallen from grace, with desperate hope to recover what was once theirs. Their eternal lives lay before them, and with frozen hearts, they work toward their Age of Lifeless Beings—their world of equality.

* * *

_End Note: I drew initial inspiration from "The Sound of Silence" by Simon &amp; Garfunkel, though the product differs significantly from my original outlook._


End file.
